Wednesday, September 14, 2011

At a recent Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing, Senator John McCain pressed both DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and FBI Director Robert Mueller on their knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious. In the case of Napolitano, she denied having any knowledge of the Operation that led to the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry until after his death. Considering the fact that this was a joint operation involving DHS, some rogue supervisor should have already been fired or Napolitano herself should be for having been so ignorant.

When McCain's questioning turned to FBI Director Robert Mueller, he got the same responses that these committees have been getting from everyone else, including Napolitano; the DOJ Inspector General is investigating and there is no information available. It was obvious that McCain and others are growing quite frustrated with this response. The one thing McCain should have asked Mueller about but didn't was the breaking story from late last week that news of a third gun found at Terry's murder scene was covered up because it was put there by an FBI informant.

McCain asked Napolitano to supply the committee with the specific date when she found out that guns sold under the operation were found at the scene of Terry’s killing.

McCain has long butted heads with Napolitano, who is the former governor of Arizona, but he is a latecomer to criticism of the administration regarding Fast and Furious.

The lead congressional investigators have been Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

As Issa has continued his probe into the operation and who authorized it, he has attracted a bevy of Democratic naysayers who contend that he is jeopardizing the DOJ IG’s investigation as well as the prosecution of nearly two dozen men accused of illegally purchasing and carrying weapons sold under the operation.

If Napolitano knew about Fast and Furious before Terry's death, she committed perjury and if Mueller withheld information from McCain, he could be in the same boat.

Here is a somewhat related video from Rep. Darrell Issa's appearance on Fox News with Bret Baier. Here, Issa makes it clear that Fast and Furious goes all the way to the White House but admits to not know just how far inside the White House it goes. Very interesting.